Defense and Space

The 10-min. suborbital spaceflight on July 20 marks the first time a crewed spacecraft made a debut flight without test pilots, test engineers or professional astronauts aboard.

Startup Rhea Space Activity is to study a solar-thermal propulsion system capable of rapidly repositioning a deep-space communications spacecraft for the U.S. Space Force.

Sustainable aviation fuel, synthetic training and electric aircraft form the RAF’s road map for a more ecological defense future.

The U.S. Air Force released the first request for information for the Bridge Tanker program on July 19, putting a series of questions to contenders.

BELL TEXTRON restarted UH-1Y helicopter production for the first international operator (Czech Republic), which has ordered eight. CRESTVIEW AEROSPACE

A lot has happened in the aircraft propulsion industry since May 2002, when a Pratt & Whitney preliminary design review outlined the configuration of

The U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory ended a mission on May 31 that was studying advanced spacecraft control techniques and the challenges of flight in medium Earth orbit.

A startup led by electric vertical flight guru Mark Moore has emerged from stealth mode to develop ultraquiet electric propulsors, initially for U.S. military unmanned aircraft.

Rocket Lab has modified the design and manufacture of the igniter for the Rutherford engine after a fault in this system was identified as the root cause of the company’s Electron launch vehicle failure on May 15.

A Boeing CST-100 Starliner spacecraft was transported to its launchpad at Cape Canaveral and mounted on top of a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket in preparation for liftoff on July 30.

The Hubble Space Telescope, now 31 years old, resumed science operations over the weekend following a June 13 interruption eventually traced to the observatory’s Primary Payload Computer.

The UK is in negotiations with the U.S. Space Force about hosting an advanced deep space radar system.

U.S. President Joe Biden has nominated Andrew Hunter to be the next Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics. In

Jeff Bezos and three other passengers are set to launch on the company’s first human mission on July 20.

The China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) said the spacecraft blasted off from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center and landed “horizontally” in Inner Mongolia.

A video has leaked showing the Sukhoi Checkmate fighter design two days before its scheduled reveal at the MAKS air show. The video confirms the

The U.S. Air Force has performed an inflight, beyond-line-of-sight update to the Lockheed Martin F-16’s electronic warfare (EW) software, showing off

BAE Systems will provide support and training for a new joint British/Qatari Hawk jet trainer squadron being formed in the UK.

An automatic-takeoff-and-landing capability is scheduled to be released to the operational fleet of General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc. MQ-9 Reapers owned by the U.S. Air Force next year.

The French Air and Space Force has signed an order for nine Pilatus PC-21 aircraft, to train future military pilots, Pilatus announced.

The U.S. House Appropriations Committee has approved a $25.04 billion NASA budget for 2022.

Billions of euros have begun flowing into the European FCAS program to support demonstrator development.

U.S. Army and Navy officials are planning the first round of upgrades for a joint hypersonic missile program.

A covered, full-scale model of a new Russian stealth fighter branded by Rostec in English as “Checkmate” was photographed being moved into a display position on July 15 at Zhukovsky Airbase, the site of next week’s MAKS airshow outside Moscow.

An 18-year-old student on a gap year before college will join Jeff Bezos, his brother Mark Bezos and aviation pioneer Wally Funk on Blue Origin’s first human spaceflight, slated to launch on July 20, the company said on July 15.